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Australia's Annual Report Card

HIV, hepatitis and STIs in Australia

For over twenty years, the Kirby Institute has collected and analysed data relating to the occurrence of HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia. The 2018 Annual Surveillance Report provides vital information to inform the public health response to blood-borne viruses (BBVs) and sexually transmissible infections (STIs) in Australia, particularly among different affected populations and demographics.

This website allows you to interactively explore the latest findings from the 2018 Annual Surveillance Report. You can view key findings related to HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and sexually transmissible infections to the end of 2017. Using the interactive graphs, explore the data breakdown and trends according to population or demographic.

A separate report is prepared that explores the data in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, and you can download it and view the key findings here.

What's new in 2017?

According to the 2018 Annual Surveillance Report, the number of newly diagnosed cases of HIV in Australia has declined by 7% over the past five years, following a steady increase since 1999. An estimated 199,230 people were living with chronic hepatitis C infection at the beginning of 2017 decreasing to 182,144 by the end of 2017, with over 20,454 cured of hepatitis C since the end 2016 thanks to increased access to new treatments subsidised by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Rates of gonorrhoea continue to increase, with a particular rise in heterosexuals in urban areas. There has also been a resurgence of infectious syphilis in Northern Australia.

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This report could not have been prepared without the collaboration of a large number of organisations throughout Australia. The ongoing contribution of all collaborating organisations listed in the Acknowledgements section of the report to national surveillance for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections is gratefully acknowledged. Unless specifically stated otherwise, all data provided in the report are to the end of 2017, as reported by 31 March 2018. All data in this report are provisional and subject to future revision. The Kirby Institute is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney. The Surveillance, Evaluation and Research Program at the Kirby Institute is responsible for the public health monitoring and evaluation of patterns of transmission of blood-borne viral and sexually transmissible infections and is a research associate of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.